fallingskiesfandomcom-20200222-history
On Thin Ice
"On Thin Ice" is the first episode of Season 3, and overall the twenty first episode of Falling Skies. It was written by Robert Rodat and Remi Aubuchon. It was directed by Greg Beeman. It first aired on TNT June 9th, 2013 in the Season's 2-hour premiere. It drew 4.21 million US viewers. Plot Synopsis Falling Skies opens seven months after the 2nd Mass arrived in Charleston. Tom Mason has been elected to political office, but he has his hands full as the resistance continues to battle the alien invaders. Plot Seven months have passed since the new aliens have arrived. The episode opens with harnessed children working in a mine as skitters and mechs supervise them. Weaver, his daughter Jeanne, and Matt peer from the edges of the mine as they try to rescue her harnessed boyfriend Diego. Matt sneaks in and plants alien charges around the mine. They detonate the charges, disorienting the mechs. Ben and Denny rappel down the cliff to take on the skitters as Pope and his Berserkers bust in firing, with Maggie and Hal in Jeeps. It's a full on assault on the aliens. The 2nd Mass loads the harnessed kids into vans, liberating them. They think they've won but suddenly two giant Mega Mechs rise up from behind the boulders, where they appeared to be waiting. The 2nd Mass run for cover, but are ambushed. A fresh wave of skitters runs out of the mine and attack Ben and Denny. From above, Paint Face, the new leader of the skitter rebellion and his cohorts race down to aid the human rebels, overcoming the pro-Espheni Skitters. Tom rides in on a horseback with Cochise, the new alien from the race called the Volm, at his side and they help end the fighting with Volm energy guns, destroying the Mega Mechs. Soon after the members of the 2nd Mass head home. Back at the surface level of Charleston, Tom is greeted by Bressler. Marina Perlata, one of Tom's aides, beseeches him not to go out fighting anymore since he has been elected president, but he won't hear it. Hal is helped out of the Jeep's firing turrent and into his wheelchair. Pope sourly observes that this is the 'Mason Administration' complaining about Tom's open-door policy on aliens by indicating Cochise inspecting a horse and Paint Face talking with Ben and other de-harnessed kids. Crazy Lee and Lyle indicate they will leave for Mexico with him whenever, but Pope remarks that Mexico is full of Espheni legions, and he might as well get drunk in Charleston in the meantime. Jeanne brings Diego to Anne Glass, who is almost nine months pregnant, to remove his harness. She has a new Volm De-Harnessing Machine that she uses to remove them easily and painlessly without any side affects. She's the only one the Volm have taught how to use it. After greeting Anne, Tom reports to a debriefing attended by Weaver, Bressler, Porter, his sons, along with Paint Face & Cochise, their ally and representative of the Volm. They believe the ambush means they have a mole. Cochise politely weighs in, saying their success is unnerving the Espheni to the point that they must use espionage. Tom wants to appoint Arthur Manchester to head an investigation into the mole. At night, asleep in a bed he shares with Maggie, Hal dreams he is walking through a forest to meet Karen, his old girlfriend turned alien collaborator. They kiss passionately until he wakes up, shocked. He tells Maggie he doesn't remember what the dream was about. Ben tells his dad that Paint Face wants a meeting tonight outside of town; the rebel Skitters don't want to come into town because of the anti-skitter talk, and because, like the humans, the Skitters are suspicious of the Volm. In physical therapy, Maggie shares her concerns about what Karen might have done to Hal. Lourdes assures her they checked him out thoroughly after his alien encounter and found nothing wrong, even though his legs don't seem to work. Manchester tries to recruit Anthony to help with his investigation into the mole because he used to be a police officer. Manchester has a list of 50 possible suspects and needs help to narrow it down. Paint Face meets with Weaver and Tom and tells them they've heard word of another major attack on Charleston. He says the new alien Volm are targeting the Espheni, who have a new even more dangerous overlord: Karen. Back at the base, Manchester tells Tom he's narrowed the list of suspects down to a dozen. He's about to inform Tom when Anne goes into labor. Jeanne explains to Diego that she'd been looking for him. The Volm have given the humans new weapons, technology and strategies to defeat the Espheni, whom they've been following from planet to planet trying to fight; the ship Cochise landed in carried a huge supply of advanced weapons and twenty-five other Volm technicians, who are currently building something inside a huge underground bunker, for the war effort. In a saloon in Popetown on the edge of Charleston, called The Nest, Pope (surprisingly) shushes anti-alien talk, lording over the place that bears his name and intimidating anyone who talks back to him. Meanwhile, an unseen person pays Manchester a visit. He's not surprised to see them, asking if it's that time already, but is shocked when the culprit raises a gun. "So it's you?" Manchester says. The unseen spy shoots him fatally in the chest, killing him instantly. Later, looking into Manchester's murder, Anthony looks at the blast that killed Manchester and thinks it's from modified Volm technology. Tom asks Anthony to pick up the investigation into the mole; he shows regret for Manchester's death, saying he was basically a good man but sometimes misguided and blames himself for Manchester's death. Tom rushes to Anne's side as she gives birth. It's a girl. After their child's birth, Tom opens the Citizen's Forum by welcoming his new daughter Alexis and mourning Manchester's murder. He gives a rally-the-troops speech. Pope watches, annoyed, and says he has a plan. At night, Hal is with Karen in the forest again. She talks about her "transformation" to become one of the Espheni. She planted a probe in Hal's brain, so they'll be connected. She kisses him again. She says he woke up paralyzed from the neck down seven months ago because he was fighting the probe. She strips and climbs on top of him as they begin having sex, while her alien spine glows. Weaver and Tom share a toast to the future and the birth of Anne and Tom's daughter. Weaver admits he doesn't trust the Volm, warning Tom that they have no idea what the Volm may do to them once the Espheni are beaten. Tom, however, compares it to Roosevelt and Churchill working with Stalin against the Nazis; the humans may not like working with the Volm or have any definite reason to trust them, but he believes they need the support they are getting to carry on the war, and they have been winning more and more battles since they accepted Volm assistance 7 months ago. Tom then offers to show Weaver something that he hopes will change his opinion. Anne wakes up in the middle of the night to see her newborn Alexis sitting up in her bassinet smiling at her, to her amazement. Hal wakes up in the morning and neither him or Maggie can find his boots, which he left by his bed, which are now in the back of his closet covered in mud, raising both his and Maggie's suspicions. Tom and Cochise take Weaver down to a secret underground tunnel that only they know about. The Espheni towers around the world prevent the Volm ships from entering the atmosphere. Tom shows Weaver a giant weapon the size of a building that's being constructed underground. Cochise says that the weapon will bring about the end of the war. Other Cast Co-Starring * Jorge Vargas as Card Player * Roy Marshall as Roy * Hector Bucio as Diego Uncredited * D Harlan Cutshall as Butterfield * Nico Amoroso as Nico * Zack Daniels as Zack * Danny Wattley as Ox * Aaron Harrison as [Jimmy Vegas * Andrey Ivchenko as Schlatter * Keith Arbuthnot as Paint Face Deaths * Arthur Manchester Significant Events First appearance of a machine that can remove both harness and its spikes. Tom's History Lesson In his argument of supporting an alliance with the Volm, Tom referenced the uneasy alliance between the United States and Great Britain with the Soviet Union during World War II. Outside References *Ben is heard explaining the Black Butler manga series to Denny. *After Anne feels it's going to be a long night, Matt offers to get the Monopoly board, with Tom explaining that it's a Mason family tradition. Category:Season 3 Category:Episodes Category:Season 3 Episodes Category:Season Premiere